One of the areas that I was really excited about setting up in my new house is our recycling station. I don’t know about you, but we generate a LOT of recyclables, which is a good thing! Better to have all that waste recycled than heading to a landfill. [Read more…]

It’s my Blogiversary!

Wow. I have just completed my first year of blogging! I hit the publish button my first post on January 30, 2017. And I have learned a lot! Just take a look at some of my first photos, like this one… yikes [Read more…]

My First New House Project!

I was worried that when we bought our house, that there wouldn’t be any projects to undertake. But we hadn’t even been here a month and I was already working on my first project.

If you read my post about the new house here, you will see that one of the things we didn’t get that was on my wish list was a PANTRY. If I had gotten my way, I would have the huge walk-in pantry of my dreams. But house purchasing always requires compromises, and so, now I am left to fend for my own pantry 😉 [Read more…]

Welcome back!

We have now been in our new house for just over a month! And it’s time to personalize our new home. But as far as unpacking goes, I have to say… it’s still kind of a mess. I have great respect for people who move into a new place, and are completely unpacked and set up in a week. Our house is still a long way from being unpacked or set up. Here is a list of my excuses:

We combined two households

I want to put things in the RIGHT place

I need to order cabinets for the kitchen

I need to cut shelves for the spice cupboard

I need to sort through a LOT of stuff to decide what gets donated or tossed.

A few of them are legitimate:) ha ha. I have ordered some cabinets for the kitchen. because we just don’t have enough storage. So, there are some boxes I just won’t bother unpacking, until that storage arrives. Also there will be a super fun IKEA pantry project coming up in the next month or so. Are you as excited as I am??

Garage

Same goes for the garage. Here is what it looked like right after we moved in. Actually it’s not that scary, at least it’s somewhat organized

It definitely looked better when it was all stacked and neat and tidy

And here is what it looks like now 🙁

You have to unpack all of those boxes to find out what’s in them.

OMG it’s getting worse!! It’s okay, the way I clean, it always gets worse before it gets better 🙂 We did sell a few furniture items, and have a few more to sell. Which means I have to dig them out from under the pile and photograph and post them… groan, more work. Also there is a lot of stuff that is going to be donated. So, I need to start working my way through that, as of right now I have 5 boxes of household supplies and 5 garbage bags of clothes, with more to come!

We were super excited to get a two car garage. No garage would have been a deal breaker for me. But our garage is tight and it is very difficult to fit two vehicles in it. And if we do manage to do that, there isn’t really any room for working. And a workbench and tool storage area, are WAY more important to me than 2 car indoor parking. There are so many fabulous systems for garages. I have to be honest. This one is going to take some time, as I will need to think it through. I have a basic idea of what I want, but it’s not there yet. Stay tuned, future post.

Critters

The cat and the dog are acclimating well… okay the dog is.

Mom!!! Angus peed on the love seat!!!

Kitties do not like to move. They seem to feel obligated to re-scent everything. Which means peeing all over our new house 🙁 For the first 5 days that we were in the house, Angus did not pee in his litter box at all… which means he peed all over the new house. I keep finding things that he scented. One thing that helped a ton, was Feliway It is basically a kitty pheromone, that you plug in like a glade plug in. And it calms them down, and makes them content that the house is properly scented, so no need to go around re-scenting everything. I bought mine at the vet’s, but you can buy it through the above link. And thankfully last black Friday I bought myself a BISSELL Portable Carpet Cleaner And I am sad to say that I have been getting a LOT of use out of it 🙁 But it really does work. The one that I bought came with Pet specific cleaning solutions so it is able to deal with pet messes.

Hmmm, it doesn’t smell quite right in here. He does look a bit sinister in this picture, doesn’t he? 🙂

Furniture

When I moved from my last house to my first condo about 12 years ago, I bought all new furniture. And Greg’s furniture is as old or older. So, me thinks it is time to buy FRESH NEW FURNITURE 🙂 🙂 🙂 This is the best and easiest way to personalize your new home, just not the cheapest 🙂

I have a bit of cash tucked aside from my condo sale, and I think I will use some of it to refresh the furniture. Plus we just bought a king sized bed (which by the way is heaven) and although most of the bedroom furniture is in good shape, we now need a new bed frame/headboard. I like the platform style frames that rest directly on the floor. Under the bed is a good place for dirt and junk to accumulate., plus my dog likes to hide under there. Here are some of the styles I am looking at, these ones are from Wayfair:

My chaise sofa was beautiful when I purchased it, but white leather does not stand the test of time well. That said, I may buy another one, I'm very partial to the one here

I LOVE white leather!! This is from my favourite local store SCAN DESIGN.

Unfortunately, cats and leather also do not go well together. And now that we have our TV mounted on the wall above the fireplace, we are thinking about getting a sofa that has some recliners built in. I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but it's not comfortable to watch the TV from down low without reclining. There is a version of this same sofa in fabric, with an electric recliner in one end. Then the fight is over who gets the recliner...

Projects

I was a bit concerned about buying such a new house, because I was worried that there wouldn't be any good projects (sad day for me when there are no projects) But that is simply not the case. There are a lot of projects that will personalize my new home. And there will be lots of awsome outdoor projects too, come the spring. I'm so excited to get going on them. First up is the pantry. The delivery truck is coming soon- Stay tuned!

Note: This post contains affiliate links. You don't pay more, I just make a small comisssion. See here for my full disclosure page. Thanks for helping us pay the blog bills 🙂

We finally found a house!

After five months of searching and waiting, it has finally happened! We found a new home!!!! Whew, now I can get on with my life 🙂

Our new home. It is in North Saanich BC. Still trying to figure out how I am going to get Christmas Lights in the top peak!!

Where we live in Victoria BC Canada, the market has been very fast moving. Most places hold off offers, in the hopes of inciting a bidding war. This is great when you are selling, and SUCKS when you are the buyer.

We have put in a total of 3 offers and this one finally worked out.

It is interesting to note that my point of view has shifted somewhat during this house search. Originally, I only wanted to live in a townhouse. I have lived in houses before. The first a 1972 4-level split , which I owned with a partner.

This was my first new home. It is a 1972 4 level split in Sidney BC. I use to clean the whole thing on Friday night after work. It was a big house.

And the second, a little rancher on a slab. Which I owned as a single girl.

This was my single girl house It is a rancher on a slab. It had 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. It was a bit damp though, because it was on a slab.

Following that, I moved into a condo, as I preferred to spend my time socializing and partying rather than mowing my lawn. And my lawn was pretty dead, so not fun to mow. Thus my obsession with in ground sprinklers 🙂

Now I am back to a house. From the beginning of this house search I had said, if we found a house with a really awesome yard, I would be in. And by awesome yard, I don’t mean 40 acres. No Ride ’em Lawnmower for this girl, I mean a nice private green patch of grass that is even and flat for mowing, and preferably has in ground sprinklers. In fact Ithink I would be happy if I could mow my lawn with a Reel Mower My new house has IN GROUND SPRINKLERS!!! Yesssssss – finally.

Here are a couple of shots of my back yard

The deal-maker was this yard, with the amazing green space behind it.

The lady who owned the house before us,did great things with the yard. I’m so excited to get to work out there in the spring!Since I am not independently wealthy, I did not get ALL of the items on my wishlist. Here is what that list looked like:

Quiet location

Open concept

Double car garage

3 bedrooms/family room or 4 bedrooms

Gas Fireplace

Pantry

Separate laundry room

Storage space

A GREAT yard

Here is what the wish list looked like after my purchase:

Quiet location – quieter than where I am now

Open concept – yes

Double car garage – yes

Gas Fireplace – yes

3 bedrooms/family room or 4 bedrooms – 4 bedrooms yes

Pantry – no

Separate laundry room – no

Storage space – yes

A GREAT yard – YES!!

It’s a decent sized back yard with lots of gardens

6/8 is not bad 🙂 The laundry is located in the closet in the den. This might be a little home improvement project for me. The other closet in the den, will probably be my pantry. There is no dedicated pantry in the kitchen, so this might work. See, I’m already lining up projects for you!

But here are the extras that I got that were NOT on my list:

In ground sprinklers

Gas range and oven

Alarm system

Central vacuum

9’ ceilings

Ductless heat pump – air conditioning

Rough ins for gas BBQ and hottub

On demand hot water

I think I did okay 🙂 The house was built in 2014, so is very new, in fact still under new home warranty.

Mostly we looked at places that were major fixer uppers, and although I was very excited at the prospect of a big renovation. I’m okay just moving in and decorating 🙂

Here is a tiny list of what I think my first few home renovation projects will be:

Closet laundry station

Pantry project

New tile backsplash

Plus there will definitely be lots of decorating projects, as there always are when you move to a new home. I will need to pick a new colour scheme for our master bedroom, which I already did some prepping for here

Hang around and I’ll show you what I do with the place

Note: This post contains affiliate links. You don’t pay more, I just make a small comisssion. See here for my full disclosure page.

I love moving. I know, that’s not really normal 🙂 Most people hate it. Here are some of the reasons why I love it:

Why I Love Moving:

You get that really deep clean that you can only get in an empty house

It’s the perfect opportunity to de-clutter and get rid of stuff you don’t need

It gives me an excuse to go shopping for new furniture and accessories!!!!

It provides new renovation and home improvement projects 🙂

Get the Right Supplies

My moving supplies

If you want to Pack like a professional you will need the proper supplies. Usually you have a couple of months to pack up. Take the time to de-clutter and purge on this end. It doesn’t make sense to move a bunch of stuff that you are just going to throw out once you get to your new place. Be brutal. I am not a person who gets overly sentimental about most things. If you don’t love that green vase that your great aunt gave you – don’t keep it. Donate it to charity, and someone who really does love it, can enjoy it. Keeping things out of guilt is a bad idea, guilt has no place in your decor.

The right supplies will make all the difference. This will make the job so much easier. You can buy proper packing boxes at most storage facilities, like U-haul. They also sell whole packing kits that include most of the supplies you will need. Personally, I am a big fan of the movers stretch wrap like this:

Boxing Day

Same train of thought for boxes. Don’t waste your time, going to a bunch of stores picking up used produce or liquor boxes. Buy proper packing boxes. They are clean and properly sized. This will also make it easier for your movers if all the boxes are uniform sizes, and they will stack easily. For my 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo I bought a bundle of 30 medium sized boxes, which are 3 cubic feet And a bundle of 24 small boxes which are 1.5 cubic feet. You don’t want to use the bigger boxes for anything heavy like dishes or books. They will run you about $1/box if you buy them by the bundle. WORTH IT! Plus, most places will let you return unused boxes if you keep your receipt. Nice!

Plan for Easier Unpacking

These moving boxes have a handy location to list the contents

Another thing that I like to do is number the boxes and list the items that you.packed. It’s a bit of extra work, but will be worth it when you are sitting in the middle of your new house looking for the coffee pot, somewhere in the 10 boxes labelled kitchen 🙂 You might only need to list by cupboard; i.e.: Spice cupboard, Tupperware etc. The boxes that I used, have a nice little designated space for listing the contents

Colour me Organized

The other thing that is super helpful to you and your movers is to colour code your boxes for which room/area they are going to. In the past I once did this with coloured post-it notes – BAD IDEA! Post it notes fall off, and unless you post them to every possible side, they will not be easy to find when the boxes are stacked.

Here are a couple of suggestions:

1)Use duct tape. Go to you local dollar store and buy a bunch of different coloured rolls of tape. Then tape around the whole box. This way if they are stacked, the colour coding will still be visible.

2) Easier still, is to go to your local moving supply store and buy room specific tape like this. I bought these from U-haul store. it also came in a much larger version that included multiple bedrooms.

Do up signs for your new home. The boxes may be labelled spare bedroom, or guest bedroom, but if you have a 4 bedroom house, this will not be intuitive to the movers. And you don’t want to stop mid move to read the contents of the boxes. Make it easy for the movers by labelling the rooms, and also colour coding them with the same colour as the corresponding box tape, So blue tape on the boxes and a big blue sheet of paper on the entrance to the room that they go in. Or use the blue Packing tape, just make sure it doesn’t peel the paint off your door – that would suck!

It’s a Wrap!

If you are packing to a storage locker or U-pak, or just for better use of space, you will want to break things down wherever you can. For tables and coffee tables you can probably remove the legs and this will make packing and/or storing much easier. All of those IKEA items come apart. Remember they came in a flat box, and you had to put them together. I flat-packed everything that I could.

This IKEA coffee table gets broken down to its original form, and flat-packed.

I used the stretch wrap to keep the velvet headboard from getting dirty

And my very best piece of advice to you is this:

Hire Professional Movers!

Even if you are 20, and you have a lot of friends who will move you for pizza and beer. The cost of the pizza, beer, and damaged furniture, not to mention strained friend ships, is not worth it. I have been using professional movers for years. It is money well spent!! I can’t attest to what it will cost you to move, but my moves have generally run me about $400-$500 dollars. Our rates locally tend to run about $80 – $100/hour, for 2 men and a truck. You’ll want to check around for a couple of quotes. I think will all of the fees you end up paying when you move it’s a comparatively small price to spend a bit to make what can be a very stressful day run as smoothly as possible.

Floor Plans

One other thing that you can do to make it easier (and faster, and cheaper) for your movers. Take a floorpan of your new place and make a large copy of it. Most real estate listings have floor plans done up for them. Then colour in the rooms to the corresponding tape colour that you used on your boxes. Alternatively you can number the rooms, and number the boxes the same. This will make it much easier for the movers to know where everything goes, without having to ask.

This is not the first time I have made DIY Christmas stockings. But the last time, I was making them for my family it said, “Mom, Dad, Deb and Deneen” so it was a few years ago 🙂 I still have mine, and maybe my sister does too. Sage doesn’t care she just thinks it tastes good. [Read more…]

All of the dismantling, cleaning and painting is done! Next step is to recover the sling chairs. I decided to go with RED! to match the furniture on my back deck, with the intention being that once we find our next home, it will all go on our new massive deck!! – here’s hoping ; ) This is what the furniture on my back deck looks like: [Read more…]

Whohoo!! Here we are at the reveal – Yay!!! Last week, I finished putting the new fabric on the deck furniture, and this week I pulled together all of the finishing touches.By the end of last week I had spent $50. So that left me with $50 to complete my project 🙂 🙂 🙂

The last few pieces I needed to finish off the space included the following:

Deck Refresh – Week Two of the $100 Room Challenge

The first thing I did was to declutter the space, athough it wan’t too bad, since we had done a recent scrub and tidy.

Disassembling

In order to refresh the furniture, I had to disassemble it. I wasn’t too sure how easy this was going to be, but figured it could be done. If not, I guess I would have gone to plan B, which would be painting the fabric.

I decided to start with one of the foot stools, just in case something went wrong, or I couldn’t get them apart. But it worked!!